Cyber Gadget Retro Freak console, any thoughts or experience?

[prince tomato]

hi folks,

i've been reading about this new multi-platform console for a while now,

http://m.play-asia.com/retro-freak-premium/13/708vvv

and now that it is out and available, and some reviews are done, there are still some things that have not been researched i think.
like homebrews, unlicensed carts and bootleg/multicarts.
for me personally, if this thing won't play unlicensed Famicom and GB/GBC carts, that is a deal breaker,
as those are the main focus of my collection.

after the utter disappointment that was the Retron 5,
i am still looking for an alternative.
(i was one of the gullible fools that preordered one the instant it came out,
https://youtu.be/E8ZMqY0mmQE
this just about sums up my experience with it,
mine was effectively bricked by an update, and the cartridgeports were losing pins after 2 months of use,
and after contacting Hyperkin to no avail, Amazon fully refunded it)

this retro freak consoles has some obvious advantages over the Retron, compact size, PC Engine slot,
and storing, dumping and loading roms from SD card,
but i still wonder about its compatibility.
ofcourse i will still use my original consoles for lightgun games,
and this will never replace my original consoles,
but it could be a good way to spare your rare carts (my Famic Toy Story died recently for instance)
and if this does a half decent job at playing my Chinese Gameboy (color) carts then that alone will make this thing worth the retailprice.

does anyone here know what this console has under the hood,
and if it is at all compatible with non-official titles?

any hints, tips or comments are welcome.

[famifan]

My only issue with this console is that it gets hot to the point where the console locks up. This usually happens when playing for around 30 minutes. You'll start to see signs of it getting ready to lock up like the game stuttering for a second or distortion in the audio. Eventually the game and system locks up. You can't even get back to the home menu, so I have to unplug the AC cord and the HDMI cable from the back in order to get it to turn off. After it cools down, it's good to go again but a 30 minute limit is pretty bad.

If it weren't for that one flaw, I would've easily given this a 5.

(с) customer review.

[prince tomato]

wow.
that sounds pretty bad to start with.
and yet i am still curious if it plays unlicensed carts.
the overheating might be fixable with an extra fan or something.

My only issue with this console is that it gets hot to the point where the console locks up. This usually happens when playing for around 30 minutes. You'll start to see signs of it getting ready to lock up like the game stuttering for a second or distortion in the audio. Eventually the game and system locks up. You can't even get back to the home menu, so I have to unplug the AC cord and the HDMI cable from the back in order to get it to turn off. After it cools down, it's good to go again but a 30 minute limit is pretty bad.

If it weren't for that one flaw, I would've easily given this a 5.

(с) customer review.

[famifan]

http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?StartRow=26&catid=5&threadid=153873

[prince tomato]

thanks!
this means i probably won't be getting one after all.

[Retrospectives]

Tried it out over a friends house and it is not certainly anything I would recommend for the more "hardcore" gamer although it seemed to be convenient...But the whole thing with these things are more or less the ability to play physical cartridges e.t.c but well, I suppose for convenience and casual play I personally spend my money on a Raspberry Pi or similar but I can totally get the aspect of the people who want to buy these systems since it is saving a lot of space.

[prince tomato]

i would get one of these for the sole purpose of playing Chinese unlicensed gameboy games alone,
if in fact this thing is capable of that.
do you happen to know how well it handles unlicensed GB/GBC and FC carts with their custom mappers?

Tried it out over a friends house and it is not certainly anything I would recommend for the more "hardcore" gamer although it seemed to be convenient...But the whole thing with these things are more or less the ability to play physical cartridges e.t.c but well, I suppose for convenience and casual play I personally spend my money on a Raspberry Pi or similar but I can totally get the aspect of the people who want to buy these systems since it is saving a lot of space.

[Retrospectives]

No...t yet I do not know hehe. But I can try to test some the next time I go there. I do not have that many unlicensed GB/C games though, but I got an GB Everdrive and I could at least try that one on the CGRF system (although I am not even sure how the GB Everdrive is preforming when it comes to unlicensed games itself)  Unlicensed FC games will (as you know) not be any problems to test though. I'll get back to you later.

[Shumi Nagaremono]

I picked up one of these last night.  Kind of a gift to myself for being free of contractual obligations to my previous employer. 

Dig it.  Games look great on an HD set.  Minor lag on the A button is going to drive me up the wall, though.  It'll be perfect for game nights with family/friends, though.  We're not speed-running Nintendo-hard stuff on a regular basis. 

[djdac]

I have one and I've read all the problems other people have had with the console, but I haven't experienced any of those problems. Maybe I just got a good working unit. But I am happy with my purchase, the interface is nice and the games looks great in HD.

[Retrospectives]

Not that it has any certain value of thoughts or experience but many shops (Mandarake as an example) in Japan has been starting to using these systems as "test systems" to check that the cartridges they sell are working properly hehe.

[karaokeninja]

I thought about getting the Retrofreak but decided since it just rips carts anyway and plays rom images from an emulator on Android I would be better off just buying a nice Android TV box and USB adapters for vintage controllers. I got the Nvidia Shield TV after being disappointed by the performance on the Nexus player. Took some time to get all the emulators setup but the Shield TV is really powerful  (best Android device specs on the market really) and works pretty great. Cost is about the same as the Retro Freak ($200ish) but both are more than the Retron 5.

[retrodave]

better off just buying a nice Android TV box and USB adapters for vintage controllers. I got the Nvidia Shield TV after being disappointed by the performance on the Nexus player. Took some time to get all the emulators setup but the Shield TV is really powerful

Have you been able to get original controllers working with the shield? Also, does it come with Play store installed?

The main reason I've been thinking about the Retro Freak is using the proper controllers. (I can't stand the USB repro-snes controllers, or using a generic controller, got to be the real thing).

I've also tried Raspberry Pi in the past but I found the performance to be less than ideal (I have a Pi 2b, I know the 3 will be better but the reviews of RetroPie still don't seem that great).

Oh, and if anyone is interested, I picked up some of the marketing material for the Retro Freak last time I was in Japan and scanned/posted it on my site here (it's all in Japanese, of course):

http://blip.rocks/retro-freak-promo-scans/

[UglyJoe]

Oh, and if anyone is interested, I picked up some of the marketing material for the Retro Freak last time I was in Japan and scanned/posted it on my site here (it's all in Japanese, of course):

http://blip.rocks/retro-freak-promo-scans/

I like how it semi-copies the comic book that came with the Famicom

[karaokeninja]

Have you been able to get original controllers working with the shield? Also, does it come with Play store installed?

The main reason I've been thinking about the Retro Freak is using the proper controllers. (I can't stand the USB repro-snes controllers, or using a generic controller, got to be the real thing).

Yeah, I got USB adapters for original SNES, NES, and Genesis controllers from Retrousb.com and they work great!